Tag: what historians do

I recently returned from a lengthy trip to India and Japan. Both trips revolved around learning about traditional medicinal practices, although each trip had a different purpose to it. In India, I was participating in a faculty seminar offered through SIT on Public Health, Community, and Healthcare Systems in India. Traditional medicine was an integral …

The problem with turmeric is that I have a hard time pronouncing it. I'm one of those people whose vocabulary expanded through reading voraciously. There are many words that I know how to use and spell correctly, but their correct pronounciation continues to elude me. It doesn't matter how many times someone has corrected me …

Everyone said to start by exploring what already grows in my yard. I wanted to learn about the vibrant New England Aster. It was much more difficult than I anticipated. Could the methods of the historian help?

When I teach the history of medicine, I ask students to think about how everyday people — people much like themselves, but in more Puritanical garb — responded to symptoms such as runny noses, sore throats, sprained ankles, and relentless diarrhea. We turn to Nicholas Culpeper for the answers.